After completing your Analytics course, use the checklist below to start building out your Analytics reports.

Understanding customization options

Reports can be customized with:

• Filters: Used to filter down reports to specific subset of data based on criteria you set.
• Dimensions: Qualitative (descriptive) attributes or labels that help categorize data, like product categories or employees. Dimensions are qualitative and static, meaning they don’t change.
• Measures: Quantitative (countable) metrics like quantity sold, percentages (such as margin), or average order value. Measures are dynamic, meaning their values can change.

  Example: In a transaction where 3 bikes, 2 helmets, and 1 repair service are purchased, the Quantity Sold is 6 (total items sold), the Number of Sales is 1 (one transaction), and Number of Items Sold is 3 (bike, helmet, and repair services were purchased).

  Hover over the field name and click the information (i) icon for a brief description of the dimension or measure. Certain dimensions and measures are only available in specific report categories.

• Analytics Custom Fields and Table Calculations: Defined groupings and advanced calculations you can add to report tables using custom dimensions, custom measures, and table calculations. Custom fields are only available in the full version of Lightspeed Analytics.

Creating a custom report

Starting from an existing pre-loaded report, selecting a Report Variant, and configuring it to your needs with dimensions and filters is the easiest way to get started with Analytics reporting.

• Create a custom report by navigating to the All reports page:
  • Click Create custom report > select a base report as a starting point, or

    

  • Click the Action button next to a report > Create new report or select a Report Variant to open a version pre-loaded with that information.

    

    For example, clicking by Top Category variant will organize the data table by the item categories.

    

Adding measures and dimensions to reports

• From the Fields side menu (left arrow, if collapsed), click on a dimension or measure to add it to the report.

  

• Click Run to preview the changes.

Narrowing down large data sets

To make large data sets less overwhelming and easier to analyze, organize tables and add additional filters to your dimensions.

Organizing the Data table

• Use the sort arrows (on hover) to sort dimensions or metrics in ascending or descending order.
• Adjust the Row Limit to change how many rows are visible in the table (max 5000 rows). When exporting, all available rows will be visible in the downloaded file.
• Check the Totals or Row Totals checkboxes to add totals to the bottom of the column or totals to the right side of the rows.
• Use the gear icons to adjust dimensions and measures, add calculations to measures, or convert to pivots.

  Dimensions can be used as pivots to set how data is grouped and displayed in report tables. The most common use is with stores or dates. Hover over a dimension and click the pivot icon (double-headed arrow) to add to the data table.

Adding filters

• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) > click + Filter. You can also add a filter to a dimension in the data table by clicking the gear icon > Filter and adjusting in the Filters bar.

  

  Filter inputs are case sensitive.

• Adjust the filter as desired, then click Run to preview changes.

Organizing by Top Level Category

• In reports with a lot of product information like Dusty Inventory, add an Item > Top Level Category filter to narrow down the data so only inventory items from specific categories appear in the table.

  

• After the Top Level Category filter is applied, add the Item Metrics > Quantity on Hand filter to help identify overstocked items that you may want to action on.

  

  Note that Dusty Inventory is store-specific and only shows values where the product is considered dusty.

Styling and saving reports

• Preview any changes by clicking Run at the top of the report page.
• Expand the Visualization bar to preview how the report will appear when sent by email and click Edit to customize as needed.

  Some visualizations may not be compatible with certain data setups.

• Click Save as a new report to save the report for future viewing.

Scheduling reports

After saving a report, you can set a schedule to automatically email reports to selected users.

Lightspeed Analytics users must use their email as a username to receive scheduled reports.

• On the All reports page, find the report to be scheduled > click the Action dropdown > Schedule report.

  

• Select the frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly) and decide if reports will be sent regularly or only when results are present (Alert checkbox).
• Add email recipients.
• Click Schedule to automatically email reports to selected users on a scheduled basis.

  

Quick guide to setting up key reports

Recent Sales report

• Search for the Recent Sales report on the All Reports page and click its name to access the report page.

  

• Click Report Variants at the top of the page > by Category to list categories sorted by performance or Month's Sales by Day to see how much revenue is generated per day.

  

• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) to filter by Sale Completed Date to update the time frame and Sale Channel to focus on retail and/or eCom products. Click + Filter to add other data filters.

  

• If you have multiple locations:
  • Search for Store on the left menu > click to add a new column to the data table > hover over Store and click the two arrows (Pivot) icon and group data by store for easier comparison of performance by store.

    

  • In the data table, check the Totals box to view an overview of each store’s performance.

    

• Click Run to update the data in the report.
• Click Save as a new report to save your customized report for future viewing.

To see changes month over month, click the gear icon next to a metric like Sale Line Profit Calculations % change from previous column.

Dynamic Reorder report

The Dynamic Reorder report uses your sales and inventory data to surface products that are likely to run out and should be reordered and those that shouldn’t be reordered to avoid overstock. By default, the report considers all stores and products in your catalog. You can use filters to see data only on specific stores, categories, brands, etc.

• Search for the Dynamic Reorder Report on the All Reports page and click its name to access the report page.
• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) to filter by Multi-Shop Store or other criteria.

  

  In the table, inventory is organized by shop and recommendations based on current trends listed in the Quantity to Order column. Click the arrow next to any of the column names to sort the report by a store's needed quantities.

• At the top of the page, click Configure report to:
  
  • Set up your inventory forecast.
    • Trailing sales period: Time range used to calculate your average daily sales volume.
    • Forecast period: Period of time you want to forecast for projected inventory.

      

      Click the arrow next to a category name to specify periods for subcategories.

  • Click Next to specify the fulfilling time for each supplier.

    

• Expand the Data bar (down arrow) to view items by vendor and average lead time for reorders.
• Click Run to update the data in the report.
• Click Save as a new report to save your customized report for future viewing.

Dusty Inventory report

The Dusty inventory report shows the age of your inventory with a focus on older, lower-selling stock so you can find products to put on clearance or move out to free up assets.

By default, products will appear in the report if they haven’t been sold for 180 days. You can customize this on the Admin > Configuration page. Changes will apply to all products in the category.

• Search for the Dusty inventory report on the All Reports page and click its name to access the report page.
• Click Report Variants at the top of the page > Top 10 Categories to list the top categories sorted by lowest performance or by Vendor to see which vendors supply your lowest-selling items.

  

• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) to filter by Quantity on Hand, Multi-Shop Store, or other criteria.

  

• Click Run to update the data in the report.
• Expand the Visualization and Data rows (down arrows) and the left menu (left arrow) to add additional fields or make other edits.

  

• Click Save as a new report to save your customized report for future viewing.

Sell Through report

The Sell Through report shows which categories or suppliers are more profitable by store.

• Search for the Sell Through report on the All Reports page and click its name to access the report page.
• Click Report Variants at the top of the page > with Category Filter to show what product categories sell best.
• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) to filter by Sell Through Sale Date, Sell Through Sale Date, Multi-Shop Store, or other criteria.

  

• Expand the left menu (left arrow) to add or remove fields from the table. For example, you could remove Top Level Category and add Vendor to see supplier information instead of categories. If you have multiple locations, add the Store dimension and click the two arrows (Pivot) icon to add data by location.

  

• Click Run to update the data in the report.
• Click Save as a new report to save your customized report for future viewing.

Sales Year over Year report

The Sales Year over Year report compares monthly sales data from past years to understand how sales are trending over time, spot negative trends, and help you plan your budget.

• Search for the Sales Year over Year report on the All Reports page and click its name to access the report page.
• Click Report Variants at the top of the page > by Top Category to compare category performance over the years.
• Expand the Filters bar (down arrow) to filter by Sales Channel, Multi-Shop Store, or other criteria.
• Expand the left menu (left arrow) to add or remove fields from the table. For example, you could add Avg Basket Size to see the average number of sales lines in a sale. If you have multiple locations, add the Store dimension and click the two arrows (Pivot) icon to add data by location.

  

• Click Run to update the data in the report.
• Click Save as a new report to save your customized report for future viewing.

What's next?